Book A Testament To Versatility Of Country Look

August 25, 1985|By Mary Daniels.

The country look just keeps on winning the hearts of those who appreciate the past. Nearly one-half of a recent Better Homes & Gardens magazine consumer panel named ``country`` as their favorite furniture style.

Part of its widespread appeal is that it is a warm and easily adaptable decorating style. And because the look can`t be pigeonholed into a single, static look, it can be interpreted in many ways. City dwellers and

suburbanites are just as likely as rural residents to incorporate country into their homes.

Aware of this attraction, Better Homes & Gardens Books has published

``Living the Country Life`` ($24.95), which covers country from many points of view, both inside and outside the house, for those who want to combine yesterday and today.

``Living the Country Life`` is a big, hardbound book of 320 pages and 333 color photographs that offers many ideas on how to capture the country look.

It may be more accurate to say that it offers a wide variety of country looks, from elegant English, to sun-filled and summery, from rustic to refined, from old-fashioned comfort to uptown style.

All aspects of the country lifestyle are covered--furnishings, decorating, collectibles, antiques, accessories, architecture and gardens.

It starts with the many kinds of furniture that can be classified as

``country,`` with added information on what to look for in the qualities of a particular wood--pine, for example.

Once considered a poor country cousin to oak, pine furniture is in great demand now by country connoisseurs. Its former liabilities--a plain demeanor and utilitarian styling--now are considered its major assets.

The book describes how in France provincial furniture makers turned to pine when oak became scarce in the 1700s. French pine furniture, with its curves, carvings and ornamentation, closely mimics the established styles of the period. Some pieces were painted a faux bois, or false wood, to resemble oak. Others were gussied up with white paint and gold detailing. English country pine of the 18th and 19th Centuries is straightforward, but far from primitive in design and construction.

Antique American country pine furniture has a look of its own. Unlike French and English country furnishings that are often simplified versions of grander styles, American pine pieces are considerably more rustic, for the most part devoid of pretense and decoration. Some early pieces were painted or stained, however. And though the vogue today is toward natural finishes, many country buffs are fond of old pine furnishings that exhibit traces of an original painted finish.

There are very handsome color pictures of such desirable pieces as corner cabinets and blanket chests in American pine, settles and dressers in English and Irish pine, and the most elegant of all French furnishings (and one of the hottest collectibles), a flower-adorned early 19th-Century marriage armoire. Oak and miscellaneous woods are also covered.

The eight other chapters in the book also offer ideas on and explanations of everything from how to finish off a room with eyecatching accents and accessories, to identifying architectural styles.

A house in Alton, Ill., is pictured. It features a delightful under-the-eaves bedroom shared by the two daughters of the owners, Norm and Judy Swicks. The Swicks hand-stenciled and painted the walls with patterns based on historical motifs. Placed atop the twin maple spool beds are matching honeycomb hexagonal quilts that were hand-pieced by Judy and her grandmother. The painted blanket chest between the beds is a European antique and the charming wicker doll carriage has been making little girls happy since it was made in 1910.

The book also offers scores of ways to add those charming ``country touches`` through gardens outside, and rugs, fabrics, window treatments, pottery, baskets, folk art and toys inside.

The chapter called ``Country Collections`` goes into what is only a small but delectable sampling of what one can hope to find at antiques shops, auctions and flea markets.

For example, the mysteries of spatterware and spongeware, still likely to turn up in country antique shops or farm auctions, are explained. Spatterware is a style of decoration rather than an actual form of pottery. It applies to many types of light clay kitchenware made in the 18th and 19th Centuries.

Spatter decoration got its start as an inexpensive alternative to fine European and English pottery. Several basic types of spatter decoration exist. True spatterware is recognizable by a design of closely patterned dots forming a border around a single motif. Another type of spatter design is known as sesign. It is characterized by structured, small-shaped designs set close together but with a lighter, airier pattern than true spatter.

Still another type is cut sponge or stamped ware. A smooth sponge was cut into a desired shape, dipped into paint, then applied to the ware.